PORTLAND, Ore. — Chicago’s WFMT announced Wednesday a deal with New York–based WQXR to distribute the 2014 season of Carnegie Hall Live.
Entering its fourth season, Carnegie Hall Live kicks off Oct. 1 with a broadcast featuring the Berliner Philharmonker. The show is recorded and hosted by WQXR staffers in partnership with Carnegie Hall and was previously distributed by Minnesota-based American Public Media. WQXR is operated by New York Public Radio.
“We’re very pleased and honored to be associated with this institution,” said WFMT General Manager Steve Robinson at the Public Radio Programmers Conference here. “Carnegie Hall is in a class by itself. Every classical, jazz and folk musician of note has appeared on that stage.”
Robinson said that unlike in past seasons, the upcoming season of the show will be available all at once, and stations will not be required to air the programs live. The Oct. 1 special and other specials will be available for live or delayed broadcast. In April 2015, the producers will provide an additional 13 two-hour episodes.
“That’s a big departure from how it was done,” Robinson said. “It had been either air it live, or forget it.”